Samuelsons spur Edison

It’s 15 feet from the free-throw line to the basket.

For sisters Bonnie and Karlie Samuelson, this distance can seem so much smaller. The Edison High girls’ basketball players are nearly automatic from the line — or anywhere else in the gym. Practice makes perfect.

“We’re pretty consistent about getting up 200 in-place shots [a day], just to work on form,” Bonnie said.

It’s their form that’s helped the Chargers make the Sunset League hold true to form this year. Lately, that’s meant that Edison has been on top.

The Chargers just completed another 10-0 league season. They’ve won 29 league games in a row, dating back to 2008. This year, they’ve also won 14 games in row as they open the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA playoffs at home tonight against Kaiser.

Edison is the No. 3-seeded team in the division, and it’s not hard to see why.

Bonnie, a 6-foot-2 junior, was co-Sunset League MVP a year ago, when Edison advanced to the CIF title game. Last year, she made a school record 91.7% of her free throws.

She’s on pace to break that record; this year she’s made 170 of 182 free throws (93.4%).

But this season, Bonnie has also lifted her game up that much more. She leads the Chargers in virtually every statistical category (27.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.6 steals, two blocks per game). Bonnie, who has scored 635 points this year, could eclipse the school single-season record of 695 set in 1993-94 by Marie Philman, who went on to play at UCLA.

The other statistical category is assists. Sister Karlie, a 5-10 freshman point guard, has got that one with 5.9 dimes per game, even though Coach Dan Wiley said Karlie is naturally a shooting guard. Karlie is second on the team in scoring at 15.7 points per game.

“It’s a good experience to play point guard,” Karlie Samuelson said. “It helps me with driving to the basket more, and with my passing. It’s helped get Bonnie shots this year, too, so she doesn’t have to create her own shots.”

Both Bonnie and Karlie play club for Cal Swish, albeit for different teams. Last summer, Bonnie helped lead the Cal Swish Black team to the title at Nike Nationals in North Augusta, Ga.

Both sisters have also won two Elks Hoops Shoot national free-throw shooting competitions, Bonnie’s in 2004-05 and Karlie’s in 2006 and 2009. In the finals of those four contests, they’ve combined to make 95 of 100 free-throws.

“I do try to get to the line, because usually free throws for me are pretty automatic,” said Bonnie, a captain with fellow junior Christina Marquette. “But I’ve also been working on finishing, trying to get ‘and-ones’ when I go in. I’m trying to be stronger.

“It’s really good, because when the defense does collapse, I’ve got Karlie on the outside to kick for [three-pointers], and she’ll knock them down almost every single time.”

It’s a basketball family. Jon, the dad, played at Sonora High, where he and two younger brothers helped the team win the CIF Division II-A Division title in 1983.

“They have pictures on the wall with the short shorts,” Bonnie said, laughing. “It’s cool. Yep, that’s my dad.”

Jon Samuelson went on to play at Cal State Fullerton and later Chapman, where he not surprisingly is listed in the record books for going 11-for-11 from the line in a 1987 game.

Karen, the mom, played netball — a sport similar to basketball — in England.

Wiley said there’s no egos between the sisters, which he definitely appreciates.

“They don’t really know how good they really are, which is a good thing,” he said. “They’re so close, too, so there’s no rivalry. They are each other’s best friend.”

They’ll also lead a strong Chargers team next year, when all of the starters, also including Marquette and sophomores Rilee Horton and Lauren Grego, should return.

But the Samuelson cupboard is also well-stocked. There’s the seventh grader, Katie Lou, who Bonnie called “beastly.”

She is already taller than Karlie and in two years the positions will be switched.

“When Bonnie leaves, Katie Lou comes in,” Karlie said.

All according to form.

A Scoring Machine

Bonnie Samuelson’s top scoring games of the year:

38 — vs. Maranatha, Dec. 19

36 — vs. JW North, Dec. 29 and vs. Los Alamitos, Jan. 28

32 — vs. Pinnacle, Dec. 21; vs. Lynwood, Dec. 22; vs. Marina, Feb. 2; vs. Esperanza, Feb. 4

30 — vs. Canyon Springs, Dec. 18; vs. Redondo Union, Jan. 4; vs. Esperanza, Jan. 14